Don't Tell Me to Stop Over Thinking It!

I was recently asked about what the worst advice I had ever been given.  While there are many specific situations where I've received advice that was pretty horrendous, there is a more general example that irks me to no end.  That is, the phrase I hear often and the advice I've received more than a few times from certain people who shall remain nameless is "Stop over thinking things."  Really? Really? Seriously?

Petition the Lord with Prayer

I participate often on the social networking site Quora.com, which allows users to post questions and then readers that know something about the topic will chime in with their best take of an answer.  It spurs some very interesting intellectual debate and offers up viewpoints from extremely intelligent people on topics that matter to you most.

A few days ago I came across the a question about "What are some of the best Jim Morrison/The Doors lyrics?".  I am certainly not a rocket scientist or an off the chart IQ specimen, but this question was right in my wheelhouse.  There are few people on this planet that know more about Jim Morrison and The Doors than yours truly.   For better or worse, Jim Morrison was an idol of mine when I was in high school and he remains as one my favorite front men of all-time.  I read every book, saw every concert video and probably watched the movie The Doors 50+ times.

I am not entirely sure this reflects well on my teenage years, but no two ways about it I was a hellion and Jim Morrison at the time seemed like the perfect role model.  Now, if my own future teenager chooses Morrison as an idol, I will probably ground them for life and not ever let them out of my site.  But that is beside the point.

Whatever the case, I could have filled up several pages with my thoughts on the best lyrics.  After all, one of the main reasons I was drawn to The Doors was because of Jim's ever poetic lyrics.  Asked to choose just a couple lines was a challenge for sure, but after giving it some thought, what bubbled up to the top was the intro to one of my favorite Doors' song that nobody knows entitled the Soft Parade.

While the critics panned this album and this song in general, I thought it was one of the more brilliant pieces of work the Doors churned out.  Perhaps the best evidence of this is that there were very few songs on the album suited for radio or for the masses (are asses).  My thoughts on this is a topic in and of itself, which is best left for another time I think. 

Back to the lyrics ...  Jim lashed out at the 50's establishment of his upbringing every chance he could and we all know his thoughts on organized religion. There is just something about the following lines that seem to be a microcosm of Mr. Mojo's anti authority belief system that honed in on the hypocrisy of those that are in power.     

“When I was back there in seminary school
There was a person there
Who put forth the proposition
That you can petition the Lord with prayer
Petition the lord with prayer
Petition the lord with prayer
You cannot petition the lord with prayer!”